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Make 2018 a Better Year at Your Nonprofit

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resolutions 2018

10 easy ways to communicate better in 2018

Happy New Year!  As the calendar changes, we think about changes we’d like to make, in ourselves and our work.

Here are ten resolutions that every organization should make to improve their communications in 2018.

  1. Google yourself. What are the first things people see about you? Would you support the group you see on screen?
  2. Take charge of your brand. Create your own reputation through the news you make and the stories you post.
  3. Cultivate local reporters.  They work too hard: if you feed them human interest stories and photos, they’ll be grateful.
  4. Everyone in your organization speaks for you.  What are they saying to their friends? Do they have stories to tell your supporters?
  5. Your website: keystone of all your communications.  Ask an outsider to click through it. Is it easy to navigate? Informative? Fun?
  6. Facebook is a party, not a meeting.  Find ways to get your fans talking with each other.  They’ll come back more often and like you better.
  7. Which social media should your group use?  Depends.  Who do you want to reach?  Where do they go when they’re online?
  8. Horror movie: “I mail to dead people.” In January 2018, take people off your postal and email lists if you haven’t heard from them since 2016. Mark their records inactive in your donor database.
  9. Photos: not just for breakfast any more. Your readers want to consume photos at every meal, from print newsletters and annual reports to online posts. Videos hit their sweet tooth!
  10. Your good name is your most valuable asset.  What’s it worth to you?  THAT’S the return on investment for your communications.

2018 is The Year to Make More Money

Resolutions are not made to be broken! You can do #1 right away–as in, the moment you finish reading this blog post. The other items will take time, so make a plan.

For instance, to put #5 into action, who are you going to ask to review your website, and will you get their feedback in person, or by email, or…?

As your communications consultant, I can help your nonprofit make 2018 the year you communicate better with your donors and raise more money. Let’s talk about how. Email me at [email protected] and let’s start the new year right.

Are You Communicating Better This Year?

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resolutions

10 easy ways to communicate better in 2015

It’s a new year.  Here are ten resolutions that every organization should make to improve their communications in 2016.

  1. Google yourself. What are the first things people see about you? Would you support the group you see on screen?
  2. Take charge of your brand. Create your own reputation through the news you make and the stories you post.
  3. Cultivate local reporters.  They work too hard: if you feed them human interest stories and photos, they’ll be grateful.
  4. Everyone in your organization speaks for you.  What are they saying to their friends? Do they have stories to tell your supporters?
  5. Your website: keystone of all your communications.  Ask an outsider to click through it. Is it easy to navigate? Informative? Fun?
  6. Facebook is a party, not a meeting.  Find ways to get your fans talking with each other.  They’ll come back more often and like you better.
  7. Which social media should your group use?  Depends.  Who do you want to reach?  Where do they go when they’re online?
  8. Horror movie: “I mail to dead people.” In January, take people off your postal and email lists if you haven’t heard from them since 2013.
  9. Photos: not just for breakfast any more. Your readers want to consume photos at every meal, including online posts.
  10. Your good name is your most valuable asset.  What’s it worth to you?  THAT’S the return on investment for your communications.

What Are You Trying to Change in 2014?

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So it’s a new year, and you have a list of resolutions in hand. Why did you write them down? Because it’s easier to make changes when you have a clear sense of what you’re trying to change.

That’s true about yourself.  It’s doubly true when you’re trying to change other people.

When your organization communicates with other people–in writing, in person, by video, on social media–are you trying to change their minds or their behavior?

Changing minds is one thing…

If you’re trying to change their minds, it will take patience.  It may take a social marketing campaign, like the kind that made smoking socially unacceptable.  It may take years, like the acceptance of marriage equality.

These are big changes, and if making them happen is your mission, more power to you!

…and changing behavior is another

But many times, all you have to change is their behavior.  They already agree with you: that’s how they got on your list.  They already care about your cause: that’s why they’re opening your emails, or liking your posts, or coming to your events.

You want them to take action.  You want to see them in the streets, or on the phone to their legislators.   You want them to donate food to your pantry or money to your organization.

Changing behavior is not easy.  If it were, we would all keep our New Year’s resolutions and be thin and fit!  But changing specific behaviors is possible, even  in a short period of time.

Are you trying to change your supporters’ behavior or their minds?

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